Every year I present a list of books that have been sidelined or maybe underappreciated in the mad scrum of publication; this year I’ve decided to do things a bit differently. Every title is by a PoC author – a subset of literary contribution that’s been historically marginalised in Australia after all.
Fiction
Dirt Poor Islanders, Winnie Dunn (Hachette)
Dirt Poor Islanders is about growing up in a big, chaotic family. It’s a rarity in the book scene: an autographical fiction (auto-fiction) that explores the complicated push and pull of being Australian-Tongan. Winnie Dunn does a wonderful job of describing the web of familial and community interactions in Mount Druitt, NSW. The book is a joy to read: tender, honest and funny. Read ArtsHub‘s review.
Safe Haven, Shankari Chandran (Ultimo Press)
As its title suggests, this is a novel about seeking refuge. It focuses on the lives of Sri Lankan Tamil asylum seekers escaping civil war only to find another kind of hell in a detention centre on the fictional island of Port Camden. Shankari Chandran’s book explores what it means to be a refugee under Australia’s punitive legislative practices. It’s a distressing read but a solid reminder of how far we have to go in dealing with the treatment of those needing shelter and the use of private offshore-detention facilities. Read ArtsHub‘s review.
Non Fiction
Peripathetic, Cher Tan (NewSouth Press)
It’s not a typo: It’s not Peripatetic but Peripathetic. Cher Tan’s collection of essays presents ‘Notes on (un)belonging’. It’s a book that fluidly travels across borders both geographical and literal. Tan writes with erudition and a restless, roaming curiosity on a number of topics, including online identities and netspeak, as well as the precarity of casual jobs and the Singaporean punk and zine scene. Read ArtsHub‘s review.
Black Convicts: How Slavery Shaped Australia, Santilla Chingaipe (Simon and Schuster)
Chances are most readers wouldn’t know much about slavery in Australia, but this book shows how the nation was built on the exploitative labour of black convicts and slaves. Santilla Chingaipe takes us back to pre-colonisation times as she tracks British slavery practices, as well as individual case studies in Australia. This is an important book that fills a gap in current historical studies.
Memoir
Model Minority Goes Rogue, Qin Qin (Hachette)
The subtitle of this memoir is an apt summation: ‘How an unfulfilled daughter of a tiger mother went way off script.’ We all know the pressures placed upon second-generation Asians, and for a while Qin Qin bowed to the inevitable: she was a high-performing scholar and ended up in a law firm. But strangely enough, she wasn’t happy. Model Minority Gone Rogue canvasses how the author’s life went awry. It’s an insightful – often hilarious – unpacking of racial stereotypes and of making your own way. Read ArtsHub‘s review.
Cactus Pear For My Beloved, Samah Sabawi (Penguin Random House)
Cactus Pear For My Beloved is the story of the author’s parents, as they were forced to leave their motherland – in this case Palestine (under British rule) – and start anew in Queensland. It’s a story that will be familiar to many immigrants of any nationality. In this case it’s a century-old story: one that tracks events from 1918 to 2018 and covers multiple generations of violence, displacement and loss. Samah Sabawi’s account considers her father’s oral history and weaves it into this ambitious and moving novelised biography.
Young Adult
I hope this doesn’t find you, Ann Liang (Penguin Random House)
This contemporary YA story deals with the usual teen drama of trying to do your best while being beset by a number of frustrations. Sadie Wen is a perfectionist, a hardworking school captain – and yet underneath the polished veneer, she’s dealing with an intense rivalry with a fellow student and an annoying teacher, among other problems. To vent her frustrations, Sadie writes emails that are never sent. Until one day they are accidentally released to the world. I hope this doesn’t find you is a breezy and relatable book for adolescents who are always striving to please and who eventually learn that it’s perfectly OK to be human and flawed.
Liar’s Test (The Silverleaf Chronicles, Book One), Ambelin Kwaymullina (Text Publishing)
Aboriginal writer and artist Ambelin Kwaymullina’s novel is a fantasy adventure tale that features a strong female lead, the orphaned Bell Silverleaf, whose clan has faced religious persecution. Bell undergoes a series of challenges, but she has some tricks of her own – she’s an excellent liar and she can commune with allies in the form of trees. The complex world building draws on the author’s background to explore colonialism, resistance and the power of matriarchy. Liar’s Test can be classified in a growing category as Indigenous Futurism.
Poetry
36 Ways of Writing a Vietnamese Poem, Nam Le (Simon & Schuster)
Though there has been some acclaim over this slender hardback, Nam Le’s book of poetry still deserves another shout-out. Best known for his collection of short stories, The Boat, Le’s poetry adopts the same intellectual rigour as his prose. This book – as its title promises – delivers poems in various poetic forms to unpack the travails of the Vietnamese migrant. It’s a worthy contribution to the body of diasporic literature.
if this is the end, Bebe Oliver (Magabala Books)
Poetry is often derided for been wearyingly inscrutable to anyone except a close coterie of poetry nerds, but it doesn’t have to be this way! if this is the end, for instance, is accessible and heartfelt, but not shallow. Bebe Oliver’s work explores love, place and identity – sometimes, but not always, through the lens of being gay and Aboriginal.
Picture Book
12 Days of Bush Christmas, Megan Van Den Berg and Emma Bamblett (Hardie Grant)
We all know the 12 days of Christmas rhyme, so it’s good to have a spin on this song with a bush version. How about, “On the second day of Christmas the bush gave to me…. two coolamons”, followed by four finger limes and 10 dilly bags… As befitting a picture book, the illustrations are intricate and the colours vibrant.
Read: International report on book-buying trends
Words That Taste Like Home, Sandhya Parappukkaran and Michelle Pereira (Hardie Grant)
Many migrants have experienced the fact that when you gain a new language, sometimes you end up losing the words of your mother tongue. It’s a byproduct of assimilation that’s not talked about enough, but is sensitively dealt with in this picture book. What happens when Ronan moves to another country? Can he still communicate with his grandmother back home? This book champions bilingualism and holding onto your cultural ties.
